He Only Loved Me After I Died

[Historical Romance + Angsty Love + The Husband's Long Road to Redemption + Substitute Bride] A ridiculous marriage pact makes Liu Fuxue, the least noticeable illegitimate daughter of the Minister of Rites's household, the most undeserving wife in the residence of Xiao Jue, the Great General Who Guards the Nation. On their wedding night, he lifts her veil, his eyes glinting with ice and snow. “You took the place of the wife, so you should be prepared to bear the consequences.” In his eyes, she is an illegitimate daughter of the Liu family who clings to the powerful, full of schemes, with calculation in every breath. The pure moonlight in his heart will always belong to Su Xinwan, the commoner physician who saved his life. He casts her aside like trash, coldly watching her struggle to survive in the confines of his household. He thinks she is no more than an insignificant shadow behind vermilion walls. That is, until war engulfs the land and yellow sand fills the sky, and she accompanies him to the border. Within the deep halls behind vermilion walls, she is a thorn in his side; on the battlefield of yellow sand, she becomes his sharpest blade. She manages the household, curbs an epidemic, and offers brilliant strategies. In the face of despair, she carves a path to victory for him. Though weather-beaten, she never utters a single complaint. Gradually, he realizes that those eyes, still as an ancient well, hold not calculation, but a deep love and a world of stars he has never understood. He thinks there will be plenty of time to discover what the person beside him is really like. Until that day, when snow fills the sky and her red robes stain the long street. The world is white, and she alone stands out in blinding color. Only then does he finally understand: Was what he held in his hands an irritating handful of dust, or a burning, sincere heart he had crushed with his own hands? It turns out some kinds of love take a lifetime to...